Report: Citizens support Bo's expulsion

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BEIJING, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Chinese citizens and cadres resolutely support the various actions taken against disgraced politician Bo Xilai, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

Bo, the former head of the party in Chongqing and a rising political star before his downfall over a series of scandals that have rocked the country recently, was expelled last week from the Communist Party of China and also removed from public office by the Political Bureau of the party Central Committee. He could face charges of corruption.

Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, last month received a suspended death sentence in the poisoning death of British businessman Neil Heywood.

Issues related to Bo have come up at a time when the party, needing to maintain its image both at home and abroad, prepares for its once-in-a-decade change of leadership.

"There is conviction across China that the CPC Central Committee's handling of Bo's case reflected the CPC's clear stand and steadfast determination to fight corruption," Xinhua said.

"Cadres and citizens have vowed to concentrate on their work and wholeheartedly promote development, so as to prepare for the upcoming 18th CPC National Congress with perfect achievements."

Xinhua said those attending a meeting of the standing committee of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPC last week "agreed that Bo's violations had caused negative consequences to the party and the country."

During the time he was the party boss in Chongqing, Bo had been popular, enjoying much local support.

"Cadres and citizens nationwide have vowed to take Bo's case as a lesson, work more vigorously and with a down-to-earth style and thus safeguard the stability of the overall social situation," Xinhua said.

In an editorial, The Washington Post, citing China's closed justice system and controlled media, said the "the high-profile expulsion of Mr. Bo only reinforces a sense that it is the party, and not the law, that reigns supreme."

The BBC said it is becoming increasingly difficult for the party to handle such issues secretly as the Internet has become a powerful means of communications among the public.

It quoted China's Global Times as saying: "China cannot expect to run anything, including politics, entirely smoothly. The frenzy of public opinion before the [party] congress may offer some materials for authorities to reflect on. Chaotic public opinion is a result of lack of information."